Born From the Dead
by Kosaten no Kokinatsuyosa
Summary: "Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13 My own take on the classic I, Chiro/Savage Lands fic.
1. Sacrifice

Chapter 1. Sacrifice

I knew what had to be done, what was necessary for the completion of our mission, for the Dark One, and with it, the Skeleton King to be destroyed. I was ready, but I was afraid. Afraid for my Team, for how would they carry on without me? And Chiro...oh, I cannot bear to think of him, my heart aches at the very thought of what I must do. My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.

"_Watch and pray, that you enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." Matthew 26:41_

I raced to that horrid Pit of Doom, where the Skeleton King was beginning to bring forth the Dark One. I could sense it slowly awakening from the slumber that had enchained it within the planet's core for eons. But the shackles were being cast off. The beast awakening...

" _And they worshipped the dragon which gave power to the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like to the beast? Who is able to make war with him?" Revelations 13:4_

I attacked, defending Chiro for the forces that threatened him now. Such evil, such evil came from one who had once been so good and kind...why?

"You created us...to protect the universe."

He held us within his grasp, our lives so very much within his control, and yet there had to be a way, some moment in which Chiro could escape...There!

In desperation, I grabbed his heart, dark, evil, revolting thing that it was, crushing it in my claw, feeling the organ squeeze. I poured all of my rage, rage at what he had done, , my anguish over what I must do now to destroy him, and the evil he was desperate to resurrect, into my defense. I had, no mercy for him, for what mercy had he ever shown anyone? His screaming, gave me a strange satisfaction, and I growled in anger.

We watched as the Skeleton King, the source of so much evil and corruption in the cosmos, plummeted to his end, and into the Dark One's Egg, the dark sphere emitting a brilliant violet flare as his corpse breached the hull. Chiro blinked and stared at me in shock.

"How did you do that? The Power Primate's gone. " He asked me, his face filled with awe. I could sense Mandarin moving towards me. The end was nearing. Mandarin drew his deadly blade.

" Is it really gone Chiro?" I asked him in return. Mandarin drove his blade into the back of my skull, and I screamed in unimaginable agony. Chiro screamed in shock and horror. I felt Mandarin pull the blade from my body- he had not set it to full power- he wanted me to suffer.

The Dark One rose from the depths, the Skeleton King attached to it. He breathed a horrible wave of breath over me, and I was too weak to resist him, as was Chiro. The time was near. We were so powerless now, so weak before the evil before us. Chiro was helpless, though he was defended me.

"Get away from him." Chiro snarled, standing over me, attempting to shield me from our foe. It would not be much longer before he could no longer protect me, for I must protect him.

But alas, he too was struck down, clothes tattered and torn. The team came, but we were still ineffective. There was nothing more we could do. The time for my departure was at hand.

"_Children, I am still with you for a little while. You will look for me, 1 and just as I said to the Jewish religious leaders, 'Where I am going you cannot come,' now I tell you the same._ " John 13:33

I moved toward the edge of the platform, and then over it. I hovered there for a moment, on the knife-edge of life and death. I tried to give Chiro a reassuring smile, to let him know that he would survive without me. _I am sorry little one, but it must be done._

"NO!"

"_Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." John 15:13_

I felt myself fall, and allowed the Power Primate within me to consume me utterly. It tore through my body, destroying it and I screamed in agony. I passed all of the essence that I could through the Robot and to Chiro, and knew no more.


	2. The Lamb

Chapter 2: The Lamb

Much to my surprise, I awoke. I sat up, and looked about me. I had been lying near a crystal clear river. A massive tree, filled with fruit, grew on one side of the river, its' roots spilling into the water beside it. I stood, and walked to the river in amazement. The water was clearer than any I had ever seen. I looked up at the tree, its branches now above me. I levitated up to the closest branch, and found that the fruit in the tree was not of one type, but many. Apples, pears, oranges, and many other types of fruit grew in one tree.

"What is this place?" I wondered aloud.

"This is the river of life, and the great tree before you, likewise, the tree of life." said a voice.

I turned, and I saw a being that appeared human in form, but this did not appear to be an ordinary human.

"You should not be here, Antauri. Your hour has not yet come." The being said.

"Who are you, and how do you know my name?" I asked Him.

"I am the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End." replied the figure.

_The beginning and end of what? _I wondered. And the being seemed to hear my thoughts, because He spoke again.

"I am called the Bright and Morning Star, the Root and the Offspring of David." He said, " But I am most often called the Lamb, and the Christ. You, however, for the sake of simplicity, may know Me as Jesus."

"But You still have not answered my question." I said to Him.

"I say unto you, before the planets themselves were, before the evil you fight known as the Dark One was, I AM." He came and touched my forehead, just below my helmet spike, and I suddenly understood. It was as if a door, one that had been locked within my mind, had been opened.

"I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life," said Jesus." No one enters the Father except through Me."

"Lord, what is it that you want me to do?' I asked him. "For you have told me that my time has not yet come, but how shall I return, for my body is gone."

"Oh, you of little faith," said the Lord, shaking his head. " Do not have doubt, for with the Father, all things are possible. Close your eyes, and journey within yourself, and you will see the way."

I relaxed, pulling myself into a meditative position. I delved deep within my memory, and encountered the memory block that the Alchemist had placed upon me, to keep me from remembering my past. I felt the Lord's presence within me, and the barrier shattered. I remembered that within the lab was another experiment of the Alchemist's, a monkey body without a soul. I was a soul in need of a body. I allowed myself to fall deeper into my meditative state, and when my state suddenly began to change to sleep, I did not resist, sensing the work of the Lord.

"Above all, Antauri life is a gift. Learn to truly enjoy it."


	3. Deliverance

Chapter 3:Deliverance

The next thing I was aware of, I was running, to where of from what, I didn't know. My awareness, was hazy, as if I was in a dream, and indeed, it was like a dream, for I was not in control as to where I was going. I, or rather the force that controlled my movements lead me to a pool of murky, dark water, and I saw that the face that stared back at me was not my own, nor was it the face of the silver monkey body that Jesus had shown me. It was an odd mix of monkey and human, and dispite the fur that covered the creature's face, the being's identity was unmistakable. I fought the haze around my mind with all my strength, and just as I was about to give up hope, a single thought broke through.

_Find me, Chiro._

Chiro was off again, and I realized that he must be headed to the Alchemist's laboratory. May obstacles stood in our way, yet Chiro avoided them all. Suddenly, we were faced with a powerful Dinosaur Formless. I knew that Chiro would not be able to fight off the creature alone, not in this state. He fought bravely as I struggled to reach his mind, warped by the Power Primate, and use my own power to save him. We were in the jaws of the creature now, and Chiro struggled to keep himself from becoming the Dinosaur's next meal. As the jaws snapped shut, I focused all of my strength, and allowed my energy to leave Chiro's body, forcing a Monkey Mind Scream out of him. The Formless was destroyed from the inside, exploding in an oozing mess. I used my temporary mental clarity to separate my consciousness further from Chiro's own, and I could sense that Chiro was closer to his natural form now. He fell to the ground, but quickly got to his feet.

" Antauri..." He said, his voice raspy. _I'm here, Chiro_, I thought, but he could not hear me.

Chiro finally arrived at the lab and raised his hand, tapping into the Power Primate to open the door. As he walked inside, he touched a panel near the door, activating a video recording left by the Alchemist, explaining the origins of the Silver Monkey, information that I had already learned from Jesus. Chiro seemed to catch on, and wiped away the dust from the capsule that held the pieces to the body. I could sense the team nearby, but I was losing my awareness again, the haze clouding my mind once more. I could see and hear them talking to Chiro, but it felt as if it was so far away. Chiro set to work, the Formless closing about all of us. Suddenly I felt myself being forcibly pushed from Chiro's body, and my mind was dragged down into the darkness.


	4. Reborn

Chapter 4: Reborn

I awoke again, alone. My vision filled with static, then cleared. I saw up, disoriented. I was no longer within Chiro's body, but the body of the Silver Monkey. I could feel a pressure against my body, but, whether it was hot or cold, I could not tell. I looked down at the surface beneath me. It was a metal floor. It should have felt cold, but it didn't. I felt wrong, somehow, put I couldn't exactly explain what made me so uneasy. I got to my feet and took a step, but staggered and fell as one of my legs gave out unexpectedly. I grabbed at the bookcase in front of me to pull myself up. The bookcase groaned and teetered forward, and began to fall on top of me. I reached out to keep myself from being crushed, and felt something else holding the bookcase up. I looked down at my body and saw four slender appendages, like extra arms, had emerged from my sides. Repulsed by this feature, I willed them away, and they folded back into my sides. Without them however, I could not hold up the bookcase. It fell on top of me, and suddenly I felt icy cold, the same kind of chill I felt in my hands whenever I activated my claws, and I realized I was sinking. It took me a minute to realize I was sinking through the floor. I used the Power Primate to lift myself up though the floor and the bookcase, and then levitated beside it, and back onto the floor.

I looked down at myself in amazement. My whole body glowed purple, outlined with magenta. I willed this strange Ghost Mode away, and now only my claws glowed. I could see the magenta ectoplasma running along the metal skeleton of my hands, making a strangely elegant pattern.

I deactivated them, and focused, attempted to locate the team. I could sense their presence. I would have to hurry, there wasn't much time. I ran out of the Alchemist's lab, and off toward the pyramid structure that the team was being taken into. I was amazed by the speed of this new body, I had never moved so fast, and that was a good thing, because my team needed me.

I attacked the team's captors, freeing them. They looked at me with amazement as the sunlight reflected off my shimmering, sliver frame.

"Behold, Monkey Team." I said. "I have returned, reborn."


	5. Feeling

Chapter 5: Feeling

"Antauri, are you okay?" Chiro's worried tone brought me out of my mediation, and I opened my eyes and looked at him, sitting cross-legged on the orange carpet in front of me, as I levitated in midair.

"Yes Chiro, my self-diagnostic programs all report that I am functioning within normal parameters. " I reported, and even to my own auditory sensors, I sounded cold...robotic.

The boy sighed. "Cut it out, Antauri, That wasn't what I meant, and you know it. " He said seeming annoyed. His expression changed then, to one I was less accustomed to: worry. " You've always isolate yourself from everybody, and ever since you've you know... came back, you haven't been yourself."

"What do you mean?'" I asked him, genuinely confused.

"You've been cold, distant, like you don't care about life anymore." He stood, and put his hand on my shoulder, his bright blue eyes meeting my new cobalt optics. "You've been given a second chance at life, Antauri, try to enjoy yourself more." His expression settled into his usual nonchalant grin. "Have some fun for once. Bend the rules a little, ya know?" His ç resumed its worried expression. "Relax, okay?"

"Very well, Chiro," I relented. "I'm having a hard time adjusting to this new body. I-" My audio emitters cut out, and not because of a system malfunction. I tried again, my voice shaking with uncharacteristic embarrassment. "I can't feel anything." I admitted. "I can sense pressure, and pain, and feel cold whenever I phase, but..."

Chiro then did something he had never done before. He pulled me into a hug, wrapping his arms around my lifeless steel body, and I trembled with emotion. "I can't even cry anymore." I admitted.

"It'll be okay." He said, still embracing me. "No mater what happens, I'm glad we didn't lose you, because I don't know how we'd manage without you. I don't think I _could_ manage without you." He pulled away to look me directly in the eyes, his expression serious. "I might lead the team, but you keep us all together. You help me to make the right choices whenever I need you too." His voice shook. "You're the closest thing to a father I ever had." Tears poured down his face. " So don't worry about not being able to cry, because I've got enough tears for the both of us."

"Chiro…"

There was a knock at the door, and Sparx poked his head in. "Hey you two, come check out Jinmay, she's getting pretty good. Everybody else is down in the training room." We arose, and followed Sparx down to the training room. Chiro was right. I had been give a second chance, at life, and my team cared for me, and needed me, and I needed them. I really did need to enjoy life a bit more. Sensation is only one aspect of feeling.


End file.
